I'm using an antiquated idiom to describe something that's cutting edge or revolutionary.

When I think of cutting edge or innovative gear used to sustain life, or something really well designed, I think of the PSP, PSP+, Doc Blue's Family Medical Kit, The Aqua Pouch Plus and Leatherman Tread.

What gear, used to sustain life, is so revolutionary, innovative or simply well designed that it deserves to be mentioned, regardless of the price?

Jeanette Isabelle

adaptation of kidney dialysis filter technology to water filtration... Sawyer has a .02 micron absolute

self administered tourniquets

hemostatic clotting agents

pressure bandages and occlusive pressure bandages

widespread distribution of AED (automatic defibrillators)

LED technology producing 200+ lumen in a single cell pocket light

hand held thermal imaging scopes

ceramic body armor

Which ones?

Jeanette Isabelle

Mine is hardly an objective opinion, having benefited considerably from the technology and the procedures, but I find the whole field of work involving heart transplants, replacement heart valves and similar operations almost miraculous.

I was in the room, but not paying attention, when they stopped my heart, turning my circulation over to a machine and gave me a brand new valve. I understand this procedure is 'commonplace' and "routine" but to me it is absolutely fabulous....

I don't know about the tourniquets or bandages of which LesSnyder speaks, but one single cell LED light is the FourSevens Mini ML It's a nice light and small, disappears when dropped in your pocket.

Contractor garbage bags, especially the orange one from here:

Large Orange Plastic Bag

It is simple, can be used in so many ways, and can save your life.

JI... the windlass type of tourniquets have hook and loop or clip openings that allow you to self apply... CAT and SOFF-T are some examples

pressure bandages.. most have a lever bar application where the tail bandage passes through a slot, then the direction is reversed to "cinch" the dressing to apply more pressure... emergency or Israeli are common names

occlusive dressing has a thin external "plastic" layer to help seal a thoracic puncture to allow the lung to function... Olaes

several companies like the mentioned 4Sevens make single CR123 powered pocket lights with 175+ lumen... Streamlight ProTac 1L, SolarForce Z1, or Fenix... my EDC Fenix E12 is a AA light with 130 lumen and 3 settings

The TMK-IFAK Pouch & Insert has everything you mentioned and then some.

Jeanette Isabelle

For prepackaged individual first aid kits, Dark Angel has what I think are some of the best thought out pouches and kits.

Over time, tourniquets have change, but two have been on the top of just about every test out there; the CAT series and SOFTT series of tourniquets. Personally, I prefer the newest generation of the CAT tourniquets for slightly easier use and storage.

One thing to remember when buying either CAT or SOFTT is to be careful where you purchase them. There are a significant number of fake CAT and SOFTT on the market and they are of poor quality and regularly fail.

For high lumen LED flashlights, for years my Nitecore Smart PD D10 has been my go to EDC light. It runs off of a single AA and produces 130 Lumens in a solid/reliable package. Recently, I have been looking for a new EDC light that produces a higher output. I still haven't found one that is a true replacement for the Nitecore, and I have tried many but I am currently using an Eagletac D25C Clicky that is the closest I have come to meeting my requirements.

One of my favorite new survival products on the market, is also pretty simple. Battle Systems LLC. has produced a lightweight signal panel that accommodates a signal mirror on a velcro patch and folds up in a small, pocket sized package.

I'm not seeing much of a difference between these individual first aid kits and individual first aid kits made by similar companies with the difference being North American Rescue. Other than the CAT, I'm not impressed with NAR.

Jeanette Isabelle

NAR has the best nitrile gloves I've ever found. I wore a single pair during a daylong exercise recently and at the end I could have put them back in my glove pocket for re-use.

I recently replaced one of my trauma kits (retiring one to training duty) and decided to start with ITS's ETA. Thankfully I haven't had to treat anyone with it but so far so good. The D.A.R.K. from Dark Angel looks like it would have been a little less expensive overall to get to the same place (NPA, decompression needle, HALO vent chest seal set, CAT, shears, compressed gauze, izzie bandage, Combat Gauze, good tape).

Laser diodes

Gen 2+ night vision

ruby impregnated ceramic catalytic gas burning elements

vapor permeable laminated fleece fabric

krill oil(maybe, jury is still out on this one)

CNC machining systems

I like NAR and some of the products they sell, but in my opinion the D.A.R.K. is one of the best laid out IFAK pouches made today and the quality of the few I have handled are extremely high quality.

What really impresses me about Dark Angel is how much more in tune to the changes in trauma patient management they appear to be. Do I buy stuff from other companies, sure but If i was to send someone to one company for gear and training it would be Dark Angel Medical.

I saw this sentence, and I was vastly impressed: "Fully self-monitoring, including sensor performance and end-of-life with no calibration required." At first I thought Big Hero 6 was now real! Then I realized this is probably about the expiration date of this kit...

Are you referring to the Generation 3 kit? I didn't see tape listed.

Jeanette Isabelle

I'm not clear on what you just said.

Jeanette Isabelle

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The contents listed are what I consider necessary in a primary, single-patient penetrating trauma kit. For the D.A.R.K., all I would need to add is a roll of good tape. For the ETA kit from ITS, I had to add shears, CAT, and tape, with a holster for the CAT essentially mandatory. All in all, it's a very compact package but a bit more expensive than the D.A.R.K.

Thinking outside the box. I tried thinking of non-medical items that met the criteria.

Not the same gendre as you exemplified, but still significant as life-sustaining in other ways.

Finally found some cutlery with a spoon big enough rather than the ubiquitous industrial 'Camping and Trekking' ones made from Titanium..

http://www.horieusa.com/tableware/utensils.htm

Technology is really developed to destroy life or control it..

The technology used in Missile Guidance using Thermographic technology such as ASRAAM had essentially unlimited funds. i.e Transputers and long wave IR focal plane array bolometers for the Military industrial Complex. My Postgraduate project work was using Transputer Occam process oriented programming.

When I was working on developing software algorithms for Dynamic Medical Thermographic Imaging.

i.e. such as

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8509657

there was virtually no funding, well actually zero funding, Even spending $30 on some 3rd party software was deemed extravagant..

I do like my gadget toys but I don't rely on them for my life support.


Perhaps I should have spent more time on pointless sprites for the Lemmings like Davy...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jones_(video_game_developer)

I'm also quite a fan of these;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJVhwg5o0vA

But they seem to going out of fashion at the moment based on some rather dubious science. They haven't built a new one in the UK for about 40 years now and are getting rid of the ones they had. I'm not a fan of poverty as it is quite injurious to ones health and life expectancy.

Yep, too bad our govt is banning coal fired plants in the US, well except for here in Alaska, Bwa-ha ha ha...

For me I think the personal locator beacon (PLB) is stunning technology ... and costs folks under $300. It can bring rescue from anywhere in the world. Amazing.

Its your job to survive until that help arrives.

I also think GPS technology is pretty cool. I've read lots of stories of folks simply getting lost in the wilderness.

LEDs were mentioned. For me their benefit is as much their toughness. I clearly recall bringing my good incandescent light along camping and then one little drop ... and busted. Not sure why I never carried extra bulbs.

I'm not so sure this is survival, but I'm going to put a special thought in for modern coated nylon tents. I don't miss heavy damp mildewing canvas tents that you had to avoid touching while inside the tent to keep from starting a drip. Ugh!

Similar can be said for synthetic clothing and good synthetic insulation. Goodbye wool and cotton.

Really good stainless/semi-stainless knife steel is pretty nice stuff.

The greatest mankind's technological achievement so far, imo - the Internet. True game changer for entire planet.